Best town in indiana for us (Indianapolis, Evansville: low crime, schools, university)

[natepickle]

Hi,
My family and I are ready for a change we live in Virginia about 2 hrs west of DC we have found the mountains still have the DELIVERANCE feel to them.

What is the best town there for a family with a 10yr and 6 yr old; they love to swim on swim teams. We thought Shenandoah Valley here got snow but we have not seen any in 2 yrs. We want to see snow with bright sunny winter days. We want to be close to water, but not right on it. Within a short drive would be nice. A pet friendly place with allot outdoor activities

We would like to be within 2 hrs of museums and zoos like DC , a town where kids are safe, a sense of community, great job growth, low crime and communities with children for mine to play with.

I grew up all my life at the beach of NC. I miss friendly people, the kind that invite you to dinner to welcome you and handshakes mean something. Almost a Mayberry feel with clean streets and modern stores nearby.

Are there any towns like that there?

[Future Trooper]

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hope this is what your looking for

[domergurl]

Oh my ... well, Indiana is landlocked except for a pocket in NW Indiana. I would suggest you try Valparaiso first, then Chesterton. It's within an hour or so to Chicago via car and you can take a train too. It's also a short trip to the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore ...

Valpo and Chesterton are also good swimming towns. Munster, another city in NW Indiana is a perennial powerhouse for swimmers. It always seems like there's a former Munster swimmer on USC's swimteam ...

Valpo & Munster schools are also very good. Chesterton's is also good.

Best of luck!

[mr77134]

The Bloomington/Bloomfield Area is a nice area. Bloomington has Lake Monroe that is a popular boating area, West Boggs Lake is another smaller boating/fishing area. Indianapolis is 1-2 hours away, there is an outlet mall in edinburg about 1-2 hours, Evansville and the river there is about 2 hours away.

[BU191433]

There are several lakes in Northeast Indiana

[CountryLuvinWoman1]

As far as people I have to say southern indiana is more mayberry like with people..for snow..well northern in..has more of that..there is patoka lake which is really nice..the towns I'd suggest in the south would be Jasper, Newburgh, Santa Claus..in the North..you'd have to ask someone else. I grew up in northern indiana andhonestly I don't have a good enough opinion to give you on that part of the state, so I'll let someone else do the suggesting for that.

[riverstone]

Sounds like you may be describing Columbus Indiana, Close to the big cities, Indianapolis and Louisville with a small town feel.

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Let me know if I can be of service to you or your family during your transition.

[maggies mom]

There is a medium sized town 1.5 hours north of Indy called Peru in Miami County. It is also 1.5 hours from Ft. Wayne, South Bend (Notre Dame) and Lafayette (Purdue University). The town population is around 13,000 people and the school systems are great. People are very family orientated in Peru, and the city is known as the 'Circus City Capital of the World'! There is a real big top in the city and circus is complete with tigers, elephants and the amazing youth of the area! The state's largest man-made reservior, Mississinewa Lake is less than 15 minutes by car.
City of Peru
Miami County Indiana - Official Website



Hope I helped.

[rrah]

Maggies mom---Monroe Lake (or Lake Monroe) is more than 3 times larger than Mississinewa Lake. It is the largest man made reservoir in the state at 10, 750 acres. Miss. is only 3180 per the corps of engineers website.

To the OP--Bloomington might be a good option except for the snow requirement. While we had about 13 inches over the last few days, that's not the norm here.